American Center Library in Pakistan
Closes for Security
U.S. officials in Pakistan shut down a library and information center in Islamabad August 12 because of security concerns, according to the English-language Pakistani newspaper Dawn. “The American Center in Islamabad has been closed for security reasons until further notice,” Embassy Acting Public Affairs Officer Linda Cheatham said. “The staff will, however, keep working,” she added, without specifying a location. American centers in Lahore and Peshawar were functioning normally.
The decision to close the facility came one week after the U.S. consulate in Karachi shut its doors and one day after the State Department reissued a warning for U.S. citizens to avoid traveling in Pakistan. The warning cited the possibility of threats to Americans and Christian facilities in the region.
The August 13 Times of India reported that the library in Islamabad was “highly guarded” and had been used as an information center for briefings during the Afghan war by U.S. officials.
Posted August 19, 2002.
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